What is work experience week?
The University of Kent is offering Year 12 students the chance to experience what it’s like to be a research scientist at our free virtual Science Work Experience Week 2021. You will get the chance to work with scientists on their research area, discussing papers and creating a conference style poster that you’ll present at the end of the week, building skills that will enhance your UCAS application.
There are 3 subject strands to choose from on your application:
- Physics and Astrophysics
- Chemistry and Forensics
- Biosciences
The event will be from Monday 2nd August – Friday 6th August 2021.
The programme
During the week you will be working with a scientist on a research poster project in their area of research. Alongside your research poster project, you’ll attend live virtual sessions to develop different skills, find out where a career in science could take you and talk to current undergraduate students about life at university.
There will be no more than 3 hours of live sessions each day between 10:00-14:00 with the rest of your day spent working on your project or exploring the additional activities designed for you on the course. You will be able to work through those activities at your own pace.
Why Apply
The work experience week will give you an insight into scientific research while working with world-leading scientists. The past year has had limited opportunities for work experience within STEM and this course is to provide those opportunities despite Covid-19 restrictions.
You will develop new skills to enhance your university/job applications and CV including:
- Science communication
- Presentation skills
- Problem Solving
- Research skills
At the end of the week, you will receive a certificate and you will be able to add the work experience to your UCAS application to help you stand out in your university applications. Each participant will also be sent a free box of resources and goodies prior to the course.
Who can apply
The course is open to all current Year 12s or Level 3 Year 1 college students across the UK. Unfortunately we cannot accept any other year groups this year.
There are limited places available and priority will be given to students at University of Kent partner and KMPF schools and colleges.
How to apply
The deadline for applications is 23:59 on Friday 25th June. You will be notified if you have a place by Wednesday 30th June.
Click here to apply
How much does it cost?
The Kent Science Experience week is completely FREE for all participants.
What you will need
The work experience week will be online and you will need access to the internet with video and sound to be able to attend the live sessions.
You will also be creating a poster to present at the end of the week. You can do this using a device or you can do it with paper and pen/pencils. You will need to upload the poster to be able to present it – this can be done by submitting the document or by sending a photo of the poster if done on paper.
We want to ensure that access to technology is not a barrier! Ideally, you need a tablet, PC or laptop and a reliable internet connection to access the virtual summer school sessions. If you do not have access to one of these, please specify in your application and contact NATSoutreach@kent.ac.uk and we will do our best to help.
Contact
For more information or if you have any queries please contact the Division of Natural Sciences Outreach Team on NATSoutreach@kent.ac.uk.